Phonograph needle and record protector



Aug. 17, 1943. P. CATUCCI PHONOGRAFH NEEDLvE AND RECORD PROTECTOR FiledApril 28, 1942 INVENTOR wt A ORNEY & REPRODUCING Patented Aug. 17, 1943UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PHONOGRAPH NEEDLE AND RECORD PROTECTOR 2Claims.

This invention relates to phonographs, and more particularly to theprovision of a device to prevent marring and other damage to phonographneedles and records, when a tone arm supported needle is allowed to fallinto contact therewith.

Frequently, a tone arm is allowed to drop on to a record with the resultthat the needle carried by the tone arm is damaged, or it marks orotherwise damages the record. This is especially objectionable inautomatic phonographs where a record is repeatedly played a great manytimes, the needle falling into the same groove at each playing; andafter a very few impacts of the needle with the record, the latter willbe noticeably marred, and the needle is often broken.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a deviceattachable to a phonograph so that when the tone arm descends, or isdropped on to a record, the impact is absorbed by a soft cushioningelement prior to contact of the needle with the record.

A further object is the provision in a phonograph of a shock absorbingdevice so that, when a tone arm carrying a needle descends, or isdropped on to a record not in motion, the needle does not come intocontact with the record, the impact being absorbed by a cushioningelement, and in the case of a jewel pointed needle, avoiding anypossibility of injury to the jewel; and when the record is in motion andturning, the needle is free to contact the record without dangel to therecord, the cushioning element assuming an out-of-the-way position,

A further object is the provision on the needle of a phonograph, of ashock absorbing device adapted to engage a record prior to a needlecarried by the tone arm, when the latter is moved downward towards arecord, said shock absorbing device being automatically moved to arearward position by rotation of the record.

These and other advantageous objects, which will later appear, areaccomplished by the simple and practical construction and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described and exhibited in the accompanying drawing,forming part hereof, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a tone arm and needle provided witha shock absorbing device embodying the invention, as when playing arecord.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the position of the shockabsorbing device and needle as the tone arm descends on to a record.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of a tone arm provided with a modifiedform of the invention, and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, in Fig. l is shown a tone arm I of aphonograph provided with a set screw 2 for holding a needle 3 providedwith a jewel point 8 in place. Pivoted to the needle by means of a pin 4is a shock absorbing device comprising an arm 5 made of rubber or asimilar resilient and cushioning material.

In operation, when the tone arm I descends, the arm 5 swings freelyabout the pivot pin 4 and assumes a position such as shown in Fig. 2, sothat the nose "I of the arm will strike the record 9 before the point 8of the needle, the nose 1 extending below the point 8 when the tone armI is in a raised position. Swinging movement of the arm 5 is limited byengagement of bar 8, carried by the arm 5, with the needle 3. When therecord is placed in motion and rotates, the frictional engagement of therecord with nose 7 moves the arm 5 to an out-of-the-way position asshown in Fig. l and allows the point 8 of the needle to engage therecord 9.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a tone arm I I has attachedthereto an angle bracket l2, carrying a pin l3 which pivotally supportsa pair of parallel arms M, similar to the arm 5 described above. A crossbar l5 connects the arms M and is adapted to engage the angle bracket l2to limit swinging movement of the arms [4. The noses l8 of the arms [4,when the tone arm is in a raised position, extend below the point of theneedle l1 and engages the record l8 prior to the needle, and absorbs theimpact when the tone arm is allowed to fall on to the record. Rotarymovement of the record moves the arms l4 to an out-of-the-way positionand allows the needle to contact the record.

From the above description, it will be seen that there has been provideda simple shock absorbing device which can be readily and convenientlyattached to a needle or to a tone arm to absorb the impact and shocksincident with the falling of a tone arm upon a record. The form of theinvention shown in Figs. 3 and 4, obviously is effective even when noneedle i carried by the tone arm. Thus, during the insertion of aneedle, should the tone arm be allowed to drop accidentally, no damagewould result to the record.

While the device has been described as being made of rubber, obviouslyit can be made of other shock absorbing materials without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive andillustrative only, and not as re-- strictive or limitative of theinvention, of which, obviously, embodiments may be considered, includingmany modifications, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention herein set forth and denoted in the appended claims.

Having thu described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. Maggie having an end adapted to be inserted into the tone arm of aphonograph, and having a second end terminating in a point adapted to bereceived in a phonograph record groove, an arm of L-shaped outlineplvotally secured at one end to said needle, and an element carried bysaid arm between the pivoted and free ends thereof, said element beingadapted to engage the needle to limit pivotal movement of the arm on theneedle in one direction so as to suspend the arm on the needle with thefree end of the arm below the needle point, to prevent contact of theneedle point with a record on which the needle and its suspended arm areadapted to be positioned until, on rotation of the record, the arm ispivoted away from the needle point, to allow the latter to contact therecord groove.

2. A pointed needle adapted to be inserted into a horizontally disposedphonograph tone arm, with the pointed end of the needle protrudingdownwardly from the tone arm at an angle thereto, an arm of L-shapedoutline, of shock absorbing material, pivotally secured at one end tosaid needle, and an element carried by said arm between the pivoted andfree ends thereof, said element being adapted to engage the needle tolimit pivotal movement of the arm on the needle in one direction so asto suspend the arm on the needle with the free end of the arm below theneedle point spaced from the needle point in a direction opposite thatof the needle plane, to prevent contact of the needle point with arecord on which the needle and its suspended arm are adapted to bepositioned until, on rotation of the record, the arm is pivoted awayfrom the needle point, to allow the latter to contact the record groove.

PLINY CATUCCI.

